Katie Slock

10/17/2016
Gender Essay
Children today are taught how to act like their gender from the time that they are born.
These roles have shaped the way society sees the sexes and the different selling points around
them. Both men and women are stereotyped and the expectations that society has set
determine the characteristics that that a male or female will likely acquire over time. For
females, there is a hyperfemisnine expectation that can affect them within the workforce and in
on the streets. For males, there is a hypermasculine expectation that leads to an aggression
and an exaggerated expectation that men cannot realistically meet. There is a profit within
society to be made off portraying these roles onto young children and without the pressure of
media and advertisements, there is a chance that the majority of these expectations would be
close to erased from common culture. Gender roles and stereotypes were created by society
and have created a guidelines that people of each bilogical sex are expected to follow in order
stay within the social norms.
Females face a set of rules that set the bar for the amount of femininity that people
should perceive when interacting with females. In history, the role of women was generally an
inferior one. Generally, the male in the family would be the one making money and doing hard
labor while the female was at home taking care of the house and children. While this is quickly
changing, women had to fight for the right to vote and have a role in society. Along with role of
women, there is also a very specific physical expectation that one must conform to in order to fit
into society. Women are generally expected to keep their hair long, wear feminine clothing like
dresses and blouses, and wear makeup to cover any imperfections or blemishes on their face.
Within the workforce, there has been an inequality for a long time on both sides of the spectrum.
There are jobs that have a surplus of females like nursing and jobs with very few like

engineering. Generally, this was influenced by history. The men would take the jobs that were
hard labor or very technical and the woman would take the jobs that involved caretaking. There
is a change happening right now that involves a rapid increase of women in the areas of which
are dominated by men, but there are both good and bad sides to this revolution.
From the time boys are children, hypermasculinity is pressed upon them by suppressing
emotions and supporting aggression. In history, men were generally the ones who made the
money for the rest of his family. Also, men were usually the soldiers and fought in wars, which
bring up the issue of manliness. There is an expectation for young boys and men to suppress
their emotions to the point that they cannot express their feelings to almost anyone without fear
of them thinking of the them as feminine. For example, if youve ever seen football, young
boys are encouraged to not only be aggressive, but injure other young boys to win a game that
has virtually no tangible reward. The idea is not that this directly leads to violence, but it can set
the page for future aggression and physical violence. Men are also have physical expectations
that can affect the way they present themselves. Men are expected to have deep voices,
muscular bodies, and be physically strong in order to protect their partner or express their
dominance. This creates self-conscious young boys who do not understand why they have not
yet developed a deepened voice while some of their peers have. Overall, the expectations for
young boys sets the stepping stones for future problems that can lead to violence towards
others and themselves.
While some gender lines are being blurred, there will always be a separation within
media to allow for different selling and buying points. If you go into any store, you can find a
section dedicated to boys toys and a section dedicated to girls toys. Generally, you will see pink
and blue for its corresponding gender. There have been instances where a toy will cost much
more because it is a girl version of the original boys toy. We can also see this gap in face wash
products where there is a men's and a women's version for virtually all the washes and while
some of the products may have different base ingredients, it does not warrant the large gap

from the men to women's products. Another thing on the topic of money is the so called wage
gap. Despite what many people state, the wage gap does not exist in the context that they
explain it in. The common belief is that the gap exists for men and women who do the same job
with the same hours and same position, but this is untrue. The gap is created when you take the
average income of males and the average income of females within all positions both part time
and full time (Schow). This has been used by many feminists trying to state their claim for
gender equality within the workplace when there already is. Infact, there is a quota in some
areas of work that requires a certain amount of females to be in that job force in order for the
manager to receive bonuses. The issue is not with the amount of men and women they are
hiring. The issue is with the stereotypes that are around each job field. As mentioned before,
there are certain jobs that have related to gender roles in history that still affect society today.
Getting rid of those will likely lead to a world of not needing a requirement or quota to have an
equal number of men and women.
There is also a very large difference between men and women within media and how
each are casted and portrayed. One of the most noticeable is in tv and movies. For example,
when 39 year old actress Maggie Gyllenhaal wanted to star in a movie with a 55 year old actor,
she was told she was too old to star in a movie with a male lead that young (Herman). Its
almost as if the effects of aging are less attractive to hollywood as women get old than when
men do. There is also a much smaller amount of movies with female leads, however that
number is slowly evening out due to the success of recent movies with female actresses leading
the way to a more equal Hollywood. One of the things that is surprising, however, is that in the
1920s, there were many more shows and movies with a female lead. I Love Lucy was a hit
show that is still watched today. However, the place we see the drawback is in the personality of
the character. Usually, the female lead was ditzy and there for comedic effect which brings back
the idea that females are not as serious and business oriented as men.

As time goes on, there will likely be a major blue in the lines of male and female roles
throughout society. Although it will never fully go away due to the need for categorizing products
in order to gain a profit and influence a buyer one way of the other, it is a major step to just
attain equality in the workplace or even media. With the constant changes in the lgbt and
feminist movements, a lot of changes will take place in short period of time and whether they stil
or not will have to be determined by the people of our society and government. While you can
do your part by actively going against gender stereotypes and roles, some of it is up to the way
that society evolves and the demand for equality. The social norms created by society will
ultimately determine the outcome of society and it is up to the people of the world to change and
improve equality for both genders.

Herman, Barbara, and Hanna Sender. "Hollywood Has Long Celebrated May/December
Romances -- For Older Men." International Business Times. N.p., 29 May 2015. Web. 19 Oct.
2016.
Schow, Ashe. "Harvard Prof. Takes down Gender Wage Gap Myth." Washington Examiner. The
Washington Examiner
Http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/s3/wex15/img/wex_eagle_large.png, 13 Jan. 2016. Web.
19 Oct. 2016.